PDF/A is the ISO-standardized version of PDF for long-term archiving, so your pages look the same years from now. Drop a file in below and it converts inside your browser — no server, no account, no upload.
or choose a file from your device
It loads directly into the page using your browser's own PDF engine — no network request involved.
The tool looks for fonts, colors and features PDF/A forbids. Clean files keep their text; the rest are redrawn page by page.
The archive-ready file saves straight to your downloads folder, with a short report of what changed.
Contracts, invoices, medical and legal records stay on your machine instead of passing through a third party's server.
Processing happens in your browser's memory, so it isn't rationed by an upload cap or a paywall for larger files.
Once this page is loaded, converting a file doesn't need the network again.
PDF/A is an ISO standard (ISO 19005) for archiving documents. It requires everything needed to display the file — fonts, color information, metadata — to live inside the file, and it bans features that can break over time, like JavaScript, encryption and external links to content.
Choose PDF/A-2b unless someone asks for another level. Pick PDF/A-1b if an authority or archive specifically requires it; it is stricter, so more files need flattening. PDF/A-3b has the same page rules as 2b. The "b" means the visual appearance is preserved reliably.
No. The conversion runs entirely in your browser tab. Your PDF is never sent to a server, and closing the tab discards it.
In Auto and Keep text, yes — when the PDF already meets the rules, its text, fonts and vector graphics are left untouched. If Auto has to flatten a file, each page becomes an image and the text is no longer selectable. Run OCR afterwards if you need searchable text.
PDF/A needs every font embedded, no LZW or other banned compression, and colors that match the embedded sRGB profile. PDFs that use unembedded fonts, CMYK colors, encryption or (for PDF/A-1b) transparency can't be fixed without the original fonts, so Auto redraws the pages. The result report lists the exact reason.
The file is built to PDF/A requirements: identification metadata, a color output intent, a file ID, matching document info, and prohibited features removed. For legal, court or regulatory submissions, confirm with a validator such as veraPDF (free), because validators can be stricter than any converter.
PDF/A embeds fonts and a color profile, which adds size. Flattened files are larger still, since each page is stored as a high-resolution image. Use the PDF Compressor afterwards only if it keeps the PDF/A markers; re-saving can strip them.
PDF/A forbids encryption. A PDF locked with only a permissions password can usually be flattened here. A PDF that needs a password just to open can't be read, so remove the password first.
There is no server limit. Your device's memory is the limit; files up to roughly 100 MB are usually fine on a modern computer, and flattening very long documents takes longer.